"And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians iv. 32.
In our last, we showed that that compassion, tenderness, and love of
our Father in heaven, are the origin of all the sublime affections in
the human bosom, and from this acknowledged fact, have shown that he
is infinitely more regardful of the welfare of his offspring than the
tender mother, with whom he compares himself; is of the welfare of her
sucking child. We now resume the subject.
In our text, we are called upon to forgive one another, as God has
forgiven us. In examining this point, we are to be guided by what he
has revealed. The question here arises, how many does God command us
to forgive? He commands us to forgive _all_, even our enemies. This
then must be forgiving them as he does. He therefore forgives all. He
commands us to bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that
despitefully use us, and persecute us, that we may be the children of
our Father in heaven. Does God command us to do more than he is
willing to do himself? No, he lives up to his own command. If God
requires us to forgive, even as he does, and then commands us to love
and forgive _all_, then he loves, and forgives _all_, otherwise he
would violate his own command; and then there would be no resemblance
between his forgiveness and ours. Even as God, for Christ's sake hath
forgiven you, so ought ye also to forgive one another.
Would you forgive all, and bring them home to glory? Yes. Will God?
No, says the objector, he will not forgive his enemies, but his
friends only. Then you must not forgive all. Do you ask why not?
Because you are to forgive, _even_ as God. He is the standard you are
to imitate. If you forgive more than God, you are better than he. He
cannot command you to do different from himself. If God requires you
to love and forgive _all_, while he himself will forgive only a part,
then God acts contrary to his own command. We are exhorted in the text
_to be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving even as he is_. Do your
kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness extend to all, and desire the
happiness of the universe? Yes. Then also does that of God, or else
you are, in every sense of the word, better than he. You differ from,
instead of imitating God. If so, you are doing wrong, because you are
violating the text. He commands you to be kind, tender, and forgiving
_only as he is_;--and you contend that his kindness, tenderness and
forgiveness, extend to a part only, and that all the rest he will
torture world without end.
But, says the objector, God is now kind, tender, forgiving, and
merciful to all; but he will not be so, when they enter eternity, for
"the doors of mercy will then be shut." How do you know that--who told
you so? Will God change in some future day? If he change, he will not
be the same being, he is now. I thought, he was the same yesterday,
today, and forever, without variableness or even the shadow of
turning. I thought he was the same Jehovah in all worlds. Do you
intend to make him kind, tender, and forgiving _here_, but unkind,
unforgiving, and hard-hearted to a part of his offspring _hereafter_?
If you intend to change both the nature and character of the Almighty
in the future world, then you and myself are done arguing. That
doctrine is, certainly in a pitiful condition, which drives its
advocate to the necessity of changing the Almighty wholly into another
being to support it. "God so loved the world, even when dead in
trespasses and sins," as to deliver up his Son to "taste death for
every man." And being unchangeable, he could never hate them. In our
text, God commands us to forgive as he has forgiven. How many does God
forgive? Ans. As many as he commands you to forgive. How many is that?
_All, even your enemies--to bless and curse not_.
We will now introduce the question--If God has not forgiven a man
today, will he ever forgive him? I answer no, for he is unchangeable.
We are to apt to think that our Creator is altogether such an one as
ourselves--that he loves one day, and hates the next--that he is in
reality angry one hour, and pleased the next--or that he holds a
grudge one moment and forgives the next, if we will only ask him to do
so. But all such ideas are calculated for children--for babes in
Christ. The scriptures come down to the weakest capacity; but this is
no reason we should always continue children, but rise in knowledge to
the strength of manhood. We ought not to be "ever learning and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Paul said to his brethren
"when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one
teach you" &c. "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away
childish things."
The Scriptures are calculated for every capacity--for a child as well
as a philosopher. We must rise from one degree of glory to another. We
are not to fasten our minds down on the inventions of men, and live
and die children. No--we must "forget the things that are behind, and
reach forward to those that are before." As full grown men, we are not
to suppose that prayer of any mortal can move the Almighty to pardon
him. But says the objector, if we sincerely ask God to do thus and so,
he will certainly grant our request. Very well, admit this for a
moment. God, you say, will answer every _sincere_ prayer. Now suppose
two armies are to meet in battle, one from France and the other from
Holland. The hour when the engagement is to commence is precisely one
month from tomorrow noon. Every day, there are millions of sincere
prayers offered to God to give them the day. Holland, with one voice,
prays for victory and for the preservation of her subjects; and
France, with united supplication, prays right the contrary. How, we
ask, are all those _sincere_ opposing petitions to be answered?
Impossible. Again--one denomination prays for the prosperity of its
cause, and the destruction of error. And as each believes all others
to be in error, of course pray for their downfall. If the Lord
answered their petitions, all denominations, of course, of course
would fall! One man prays far rain, and another, that it may not rain.
If God answered all these petitions, he would be as changeable, not as
_one man_, but as the whole human family together.
As it respects God's pardoning the human race, I contend that this
pardon existed from the beginning. Do not the Scriptures declare that
God chose us _in Christ_ before the foundation of the world? Yes, for
"he calleth those things which be not as though they were." Well,
could we be chosen _in Christ_ without being pardoned? No, for the
apostle says, "he that is _in Christ_ is a new creature;" and,
certainly, a man cannot be a new creature _in Christ_ without being
pardoned in the mind of Deity. If then in the omniscient mind of God,
to whom there is no future, they were chosen _in Christ_ before the
foundation of the world, then in his mind, they must also have been
pardoned before the world began. God never does a new act. By _pardon_
we are not to understand the clearing of a guilty man from deserved
punishment, but an entire deliverance from a disposition to sin. The
period, when we are to be released from sin, is through death, where
the earthly nature, with all its wants and temptations to sin, falls,
and the heavenly nature rises in incorruption and glory through a
resurrection from the dead. Is not this the day of redemption when we
are set free? Yes, so saith the Scripture. Well do not _redemption,
remission, and forgiveness_ mean the same thing? They do. Then our
_pardon, remission_ or redemption will be _realized_ through death and
the resurrection. We will produce the Scriptures "in whom we have
_redemption_ through his blood, even the _forgiveness_ of sins
according to the riches of his grace." Here forgiveness and redemption
are used synonymous, and are declared to be _through the blood of
Christ_--that is, through his death, as a sacrifice for sin. Sin
cannot exist beyond the sacrifice designed to take it away. He is
represented as taking away the sin of the world under the figure of a
_Lamb_. Sin will come to a finish, under the first covenant, exactly
where Christ said "it is finished," at which moment the vail,
concealing the "holy of holies," will be rent in twain, and the second
covenant be opened. If we step beyond what Christ has said, we may as
well give up the Scriptures, and trust to our own vain imaginations.
There sin will end; and that is _dismission_, pardon or redemption
from it. "O death! Where is thy sting? O grave! Where is thy victory?
The _sting_ of death is _sin_, and the _strength_ of sin is the _law_
--but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord
Jesus Christ."
Now, here it is represented, that our victory, over _sin and death_,
is _when_ we rise to immortal glory. Our _victory_ over sin is at the
_same instant_ with our victory over _death_; and who will deny that
our _victory over death_ will be at the resurrection? The objector may
as well deny our victory over _death_ at the resurrection, as to deny
our _victory over sin_ at that period. The whole is said to be
"through Christ." He was our "forerunner" and "first fruits" to
represent our condition _there_. When he expired, he was free from
_pain_, and when he arose, he was free from _temptation_. So when we
pass the same scene, we shall be like _him_, who is our "resurrection
and life," otherwise the harvest will not be like "the first fruits."
God, then pardoned the human race, _in Christ_, when he made them.
How? Ans. By ordering their existence in such a manner, that they
should be freed from sin through death and the resurrection. That is
the day of our final discharge--the day, when the prisoner shall be
set free--the day, when our redemption shall come. But asks the
objector, are we not to _realize_ our pardon in this world? Ans. Only
_through faith_ in the _reality_. We look forward, and anchor our hope
within the veil of death, and enjoy our pardon, or redemption, only by
an eye of faith. This "faith works by love and purifies the heart." It
causes us, in a great measure, to break off our sins by righteousness.
But this has no influence, whatever, over the sins already committed.
For _them_, we must still continue to feel miserable. Punishment is
_certain_. From the sins that are committed, we only enjoy our pardon
or redemption from them through faith in Christ the resurrection. Paul
told the believers, that if there were no resurrection, their faith
was vain, they were yet in their sins. This proves that they only
enjoyed the pardon of their sins through faith in the resurrection,
otherwise I see no force in his language.
But inquires, the reader, why do you pray that God would pardon our
sins? Ans. I do not pray to turn the Almighty from his will and
purpose; but humbly trust, that I spend my days in searching out what
"that perfect will of God is," and then pray in reconciliation to his
revealed will. It is wicked to pray what we do not believe.
"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." I believe that God pardoned us
from the beginning, and that this pardon will be realized through
death and the resurrection. And when I pray that God would pardon our
sins, I mean that he would grant us an evidence of that pardon, which
unchangeably existed in his eternal mind, by enlightening our
understanding in the Scriptures of truth, and giving us correct views
of his character as a Being of tenderness and compassion to the
children of men. So when we say, God has pardoned us, we do not mean
that he has been moved by our petitions to do a new act; but that
through the appointed means, he has so far enlightened our minds, that
we have received an evidence of that pardon which existed with him
from the beginning, and by faith we look forward, believing it will
take place through death and the resurrection, as Christ has proved.
By this faith we perceive the love of God, and break off our sins by
righteousness. But while in the flesh, we feel a thorn--a hell of
conscious guilt for the sins we have committed, and though the
penitent may beseech God, that this messenger of satan, buffeting him,
may depart from him, yet the answer will be, "my grace is sufficient
for thee."
We now perceive how God pardons sin, and yet punishes us for it. The
misery, sin brings upon us, is our just punishment, and to be released
from it, by the free grace of God, through death and the resurrection,
is our pardon and redemption--For example--we say, in a cloudy day,
"the sun does not shine;" but still he does. The clouds, just above
our heads, prevent his rays from shining upon us. The change is not in
the sun. The clouds disperse, and we say, "the sun shines," while in
fact he is ever the same. The Scriptures say, "our God is a sun." He
is unchangeably the same in all his brilliant perfections. "Sin like a
cloud, and transgression like a thick cloud," rise over the mind and
darken the understanding. Through this dark medium we look up to God,
and think he has changed--that he is angry, and thunders are rolling
from his hand, while in fact the whole change is in us. The moment our
minds are enlightened by the beams of truth we rejoice, and say God
has forgiven us. We receive an evidence of pardon, and enjoy it
through faith, while God has remained unchangeably the same.
While we are children in christianity, we speak and act like children;
and think if we join together, and pray as loud as we can as though
the Lord were "deaf, or all asleep or on a journey," that we can
prevail, and make him do as we wish. And while we are children, if we
sin, we think the Lord is our enemy, and is angry. Now, this is all
well enough for those whose experience has gone no further. We are not
to "despise the day of small things," but kindly receive such an one
as a babe in Christ, and feed him with milk. But still it does appear
to be a pity that thousands, under the gospel, should live and die
children.
"Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now, we are to
forgive as God does. How is that--To hold a grudge one day, and if
they ask our pardon, to forgive them the next? No, we must uniformly
possess a kind, tender-hearted, forgiving spirit, laying up nought
against any one. Forgiveness does not consist in laying up a store of
malice and vengeance, till our enemy come, and formally ask our
forgiveness. No--he might never come, and then we could never forgive
him. We are commanded to love and forgive our enemies whether they ask
it, or not. So did our Saviour on the cross, and we are to exercise
the same spirit of benevolence and meekness. We must, as our context
says--put away all malice, wrath, and evil speaking from among us, and
be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving.
Our Father in heaven is the most lovely and adorable of all beings!
Under the light of his character, every uncomfortable thought
vanishes, and the dawn of a blessed eternity bursts upon us in a flood
of glory. By faith we penetrate the veil of immortality, and read our
pardon, and justification in letters of blood. Within that veil, we
anchor our hope. Faith triumphs over the ruins of death, smiles at the
darkness of the tomb, and through Christ within, the hope of glory,
bids defiance to the crushing hand of death, and lights up its dreary
mansions with the cheering beams of immortal day.